Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices rose for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. gas inventories to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Natural gas for delivery in September on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped 3.7 cents, or 1.3%, to trade at $2.845 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours after hitting an intraday peak of $2.863.
A day earlier, natural gas rallied 6.4 cents, or 2.33%, to end at $2.812 as forecasts for the coming week turned warmer, boosting near-term demand expectations for the heating fuel.
Updated weather forecasting models pointed to warmer-than-normal temperatures across many regions, including the west, central and southern U.S., through August 11, boosting summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Forecasts originally called for mostly average summer temperatures during the period.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use. Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of U.S. electricity generation.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's storage report due on Thursday is expected to show a build of approximately 46 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 31.
That compared with builds of 52 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 83 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week is an increase of 53 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas storage stood at 2.828 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 28.2% higher than during the same week a year earlier and 2.9% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Last spring, supplies were 55% below the five-year average, indicating producers have made up for all of last winter’s unusually strong demand.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in September tacked on 61 cents, or 1.33%, to trade at $46.35 a barrel, while heating oil for September delivery climbed 0.97% to trade at $1.562 per gallon.